Warmth
by darkcyan
Summary: It was easy, in this warm, softly lit room, surrounded by books and with Heiji at his back, to pretend that the rest of the world, with all its complexity and injustice, didn't exist. Just for a little while.


About a year ago, I stumbled across a story that mentioned that it had been written in honor of Asexual Awareness Week; I thought that was a great idea and decided I would try to do the same this year. Asexual Awareness Week is this week (October 20 - 26), and this is that story.

… Although the fact that I have cast them both as asexual is almost entirely incidental to the fact that this is primarily a piece of shameless HeiShin fluff. So … enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to Aoyama Gosho etc., not to me.

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# # # Warmth # # #

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They stumbled through the door to the Kudo house, still laughing from a combination of too many hours spent awake and the giddiness that came from finally having resolved their latest case. It had been nearly two weeks of late nights, early mornings, and frustration that had once or twice boiled over into outright screaming matches, but everything of importance had finally been sorted out. The rest could wait.

They kicked off their shoes at the entrance, Shinichi wincing as the motion jarred his injured foot, then limped their way over to the couch, where Shinichi collapsed into it with a heartfelt sigh.

"I'll go make coffee." Heiji said, and continued towards the kitchen.

Shinichi made a half-hearted attempt to sit up from his current sprawl, then gave it up as not worth the effort. He raised his voice. "At this hour? If Ran were here, she'd yell at you."

The couch blocked his sight, but from the tenor of Heiji's voice, he'd stuck his head back out the open kitchen door. "So would Kazuha." He said, sounding completely unconcerned. "So, do you want some?"

Shinichi struggled briefly with his conscience. "Probably better not." He sighed. "We really should get _some_ sleep tonight." Even if he was not quite ready to do so yet.

A pause. "Fine. Warm milk instead? And don't we still have some cinnamon?" A couple of cabinets banged. "Hah, found it."

Shinichi was tempted to ask if he looked seven, but he tried to avoid _knowingly_ giving Heiji that sort of opening. "Sounds good."

"All right, just a minute then."

Ticking from the grandfather clock on the other side of the room formed a quiet counterpoint to the intermittent noises coming from the kitchen. Heiji knew his way around a kitchen well enough, but he'd never been precisely quiet about it. Yet the noise was normal. Comforting. Despite himself, Shinichi could feel his eyes starting to close.

He forced them back open, rolling sideways to face the coffee table. The tabletop itself he couldn't see at all through the piles of papers; most from this case, a few from other cases they'd started looking at intermittently, as a way to keep themselves from going mad. But underneath ...

His blind feeling around soon netted pay dirt; he pulled out a well-loved copy of _The Greek Coffin_. "Heiji!"

"What?"

"What have I told you about leaving your Ellery Queen under the coffee table?"

That merited Heiji coming all the way back over to the couch to look down at him, eyebrow raised, clearly attempting to suppress a grin. "'Thank you, Heiji, for leaving me something more interesting to read than yet another set of case notes?'"

Shinichi rolled his eyes and opened the book, pointedly raising it at an angle that blocked out Heiji's face.

He laughed and walked away. "How do you want it?"

"Lots of cinnamon and a bit of sugar, please." Shinichi delved into the novel. He welcomed the additional effort that reading it in English required; it helped re-engage his brain.

It proved to be a sufficient distraction that when the kitchen finally went quiet, he almost didn't notice. Almost. By the time Heiji reappeared from the kitchen, a steaming mug in each hand, he'd propped himself into a more or less upright position and tossed the book on the coffee table, a spare paperclip used as a temporary bookmark. "Thanks, Heiji." He said as he accepted the mug. "You are amazing."

"That's not what you were saying yesterday morning." He said. "Now shove over."

Shinichi rolled his eyes again. "We do have two couches, you know."

"But the other couch doesn't come with Shinichi cuddles." Heiji said, as though the logic was obvious.

… Fair point. "I suppose not." He sat the rest of the way up and scooted over onto the middle cushion, sticking his injured foot up at an odd angle to keep it from jostling against the sofa's arm. Once he felt Heiji sit down, he relaxed backwards again, half-lying against Heiji's chest as the Osakan shifted to a slight diagonal to better accommodate the position.

Heiji's arm wrapped over his shoulder and down across his chest, and Shinichi laid his free hand across it as he used the other to bring his mug up to within easy inhaling distance. _Mm, warm milk and cuddles. Does life get any better than this? _

The tightness in his chest that had slowly been growing over the past weeks, as they'd hit dead end after red herring after mistake, finally finished melting away. It was easy, in this warm, softly lit room, surrounded by books and with Heiji at his back, to pretend that the rest of the world, with all its complexity and injustice, didn't exist. Just for a little while. He could feel Heiji's slow relaxation as well, and resisted the urge to melt completely. He knew from experience that it was hard to drink from that angle, and Heiji always got irritated when he inadvertently ended up spilling on him.

It took some effort to refocus on their earlier conversation. "I've said before, I don't think I should be held responsible for things said in the heat of deduction. And if I recall correctly, you said a few things too."

"… Forgive and forget sounds good to me." Heiji agreed hastily.

Shinichi snickered quietly, and after a moment Heiji joined in. Someday, he thought, they might make it through a big case without going for each other's throats at least once. But it hadn't happened yet.

Heiji's warmth at his back and the mug in his hands, lightly steaming and smelling of cinnamon and a hint of vanilla, lured him back towards sleep. He struggled to force his eyes back open. "It's been a while since we've been to Osaka." He said, deliberately off-handedly.

Heiji might be occasionally obtuse, but he wasn't stupid. Not with the victims of their latest case – every one of them a twenty-something professional woman – still so close to the surface of both their minds.

"Kazuha's fine." He said. "I talked to her just last week. Besides, how much trouble can an elementary school teacher get into?"

A pause.

"Not including whoever was unlucky enough to get saddled with your pack of brats."

Shinichi grinned. "Not really my pack anymore." He said mildly. "Haibara has them well in hand."

"The Tsuburaya kid comes over occasionally for homework help. That still counts."

Shinichi snorted and shifted slightly, sliding downwards. "If I made them any more detective-mad than they already are, I'm fairly certain Haibara would _actually_ kill me this time."

Heiji snorted his agreement.

"… But really, we should visit Osaka sometime soon."

Heiji huffed. "Fine, fine. And lunch with 'Neechan once she gets back from … wherever she is right now."

"Some conference out in Nagoya." Shinichi said. "She's due back … next Thursday, I think she said?"

"Some ex-boyfriend you are." Heiji laughed. "Not that you're any better at remembering our plans."

Shinichi shifted his weight so that he could jab his elbow into … Heiji's upper thigh, he thought? The other man yelped. "Oi, you almost made me spill my milk!"

"Would serve you right. You're as bad as I am." Shinichi settled back down. "And if you still have enough to spill, you're clearly not drinking fast enough." He eyed the dregs left in his own mug, then finished it off with a long gulp and stretched out to set it on top of what were hopefully not terribly important papers. He hadn't seen any drips. Though even if there were, it wouldn't be the first time that they took research materials back to headquarters with stains on them.

"Put mine over there too, would you?" Heiji asked, dangling his mug in front of Shinichi's face.

He accepted it. "Why can't you put it there yourself?"

"Because then I'd have to move, which means _you'd_ have to move."

"Fair point." Shinichi stretched just far enough to put the mug down next to his own, then settled back.

_With a blanket, I could happily stay here all night._ Shinichi though as he listened to the quiet ticking of the clock. He pointedly did not look at the time; given when they'd finally made it home he was quite sure he'd be happier not knowing. _Heiji'd probably get cranky if I make him sleep sitting up, though. There's been far too much of that recently anyway._

Shinichi heaved a sigh and started attempting to sit up. He wasn't quite ready for sleep yet, but at the rate he was going, if he didn't start moving now he really would end up crashing on the couch.

His back already felt cold.

Behind him, Heiji made a sound that was half grunt, half sigh. "I guess we should, yeah."

The front door slammed open.

Shinichi reached for a mug as he finished sitting up, clearing Heiji's path to standing. He'd prefer something he could kick, but with his toes still sore after the evening's abortive attempt, he'd keep that for a last resort.

Heiji had almost finished pulling out the _bokken_ he kept hidden under the couch when a familiar voice rang out. "Shin-_chaaaan_! Hei-_chan_! I hope I'm not interrupting anything!"

Both of them slumped, Shinichi having to resist the urge to fall back into his prior position as he pinched the bridge of his nose. (Nearly six years, now, and it still felt a bit odd not having to nudge his glasses out of the way.) "In here, Mom." He called.

Heiji threw him an incredulous look. "She still thinks we ...?"

"... Yes."

"But I've _seen_ you tell her –"

"_Yes_."

Shinichi's mother bounced in with her usual energy, then stopped and put her hands on her hips. "Pooh. Why do I never interrupt anything _interesting_?"

"If you hadn't burst in here loudly enough that we thought we were under attack from an extremely incompetent robber, you could have interrupted some quality cuddling." Shinichi said pointedly.

She made a face. "That's not what I meant at all and you know it. I'll never have grandchildren at this rate!"

He resisted the urge to pinch his nose again. "There are … quite a few reasons why that will never happen. Though if you want biological grandchildren so much – which, by the way, is news to me – why didn't you protest when I told you about Heiji?" He reached out and took Heiji's hand, shooting him a quick smile. "Not that I'd have listened."

She pouted. "But you two are too cute together!"

"… Maybe I'll take him up on his suggestion that we move to Osaka after all."

Heiji blinked. "I did what?"

"Do you really think that would stop her?" His father asked, entering the room at a much more leisurely pace. Shinichi smiled involuntarily as they exchanged nods of greeting.

"Oh!" His mother brightened. "I haven't been to Osaka in _ages_! Do, please."

Someday, Shinichi would learn that he couldn't win a conversation with his parents. Though he suspected that he and Heiji would stop arguing over their cases first. He sighed, turning his attention towards his father. _Occasionally_, ignoring his mother worked. "Hiding from your editors again?"

"Shin-_chan_!" His mother looked hurt. "Can't we just want a chance to catch up with our darling son and his adorable boyfriend?"

Heiji looked like he wasn't entirely sure how to take the word 'adorable'. Shinichi made a mental note to use it more often, since his expression of confusion … well, _was_. He snapped out of it quickly enough, though. "In my experience, such visits usually don't start at –" he craned his head. "5 am."

Shinichi was right. He hadn't wanted to know.

"There were a few books in our library that I need to double-check some details with." His father said blandly. "I don't expect it'll be more than a few days."

Shinichi grinned. His father must not be too far behind if he thought a few days would be enough to catch up. He made a deliberately broad gesture in the general direction of the bookshelves that lined the room. "Well then, by all means."

A wide yawn took him by surprise. About halfway through Heiji nudged his shoulder in silent complaint as he started yawned as well.

His mother appeared to finally put together the scattered papers covering coffee table, desk, and nearly every other flat surface of reasonable size that the two had been able to find; the recently used pair of mugs stacked on top; and the generally exhausted demeanor of her son and his boyfriend. "You two were up all night working on a case again, weren't you?"

"_Finishing_ a case." Shinichi corrected, allowing himself at least a moment of pride. It never should have taken as long as it had – he could feel the recriminations crowding in around the edges of all the other thoughts he was doing his best not to think tonight – but at least it was over now.

She frowned. "Then what are you staying up talking to us for? Go to bed!"

He eyed her warily. "Fine, but I'm locking the door."

"I'm not going to try to burst into your bedroom!" She protested. Shinichi folded his arms across his chest and glared. "... Anymore."

He rolled his eyes and stood, carefully shifting so that most of his weight rested on his good foot. He caught sight of the expression on his father's face sharpening, but when Shinichi shook his head slightly and offered a sheepish smile, he appeared to take that as answer enough and relaxed again.

Heiji stood as well, nodding to both of Shinichi's parents. "Good luck with your research." He offered to Shinichi's father.

The man smiled. "Thank you. Although I believe it wouldn't hurt for us to take a nap first, as well."

"Oh! Should I –"

Shinichi nudged his shoulder. "Go on. I'm sure they can find the spare sheets themselves. It _is_ still their house, after all."

"Yes, we'll be fine." Shinichi's mom said. She ducked around the coffee table, dodging stacks of paper with the ease of long practice, and pulled Heiji and Shinichi each into a hug as they passed. "It really is good to see you two again. Sleep well!"

Shinichi hugged her back. "You too. Don't let Dad wake you up sneaking off to his books again."

His father looked vaguely affronted. "Would I do that?"

"Yes." Mother and son chorused.

Heiji offered a shoulder to lean on as Shinichi limped across the room and to the stairs. Halfway up, he turned and called down, "Still planning on locking the door!"

He grinned at his mother's audible groan of disappointment. Heiji shook his head and said, quietly enough that it probably wouldn't carry, "I will never understand your parents."

"I don't think anyone does." Shinichi said. "We _could_ always move to Osaka … at least they wouldn't be able to use the library as an excuse to visit, then."

Heiji snorted. "Between you and me? You know we'd probably end up dragging at least half of it along with us."

Shinichi laughed.

"Also, just, no." At Shinichi's raised eyebrow, Heiji raised one back. "Would _you_ want to work with my father? And Kazuha's?"

Shinichi snickered. "… Also a fair point."

The rest of the stairs and hallway passed in comfortable silence. Shinichi closed and locked the door to their bedroom behind them, thankful that the house was large enough that this room had its own bathroom. The two of them prepared for bed in their usual fashion, bantering almost on autopilot.

Finally, everything sorted, they slipped into bed, Heiji snuggling in until his shoulder was wedged under Shinichi's own, once again a warm weight at Shinichi's back. Underneath the blankets, their hands found each other, fingers curling together. Shinichi smiled into the darkness, already feeling his eyes starting to slide close again. "Goodnight, my Watson."

Heiji huffed, the breath close enough that Shinichi could feel it on the back of his neck. "_Why_ did I have to choose a favorite series where the detective pair are father and son?"

Shinichi's smile shifted to a grin. "It's not too late. You can always change your mind."

"Jerk." Heiji said. "I love you too."

Still smiling, Shinichi drifted to sleep. He'd go back to worrying about the rest of the world tomorrow.

_I love you too_.

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25 October 2013


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